It was the middle of autumn when we first met him. The evening was cold. My brother Kalen and I just had finished a long day helping some farmers taking care of their cattle and we were heading to what was supposed to be our home for the next couple of days.
We usually sold remedies brews for a living. I was the one in charge of making them, while my brother was in charge of finding customers and the ingredients we needed for them. When sales weren't going well, we had to adapt to the situation to survive, so we accepted any type of job we can do to earn some extra money.
We arrived in the Palace City of the Diamond kingdom only a couple of days ago. We normally camped in the outskirts of every town we went to, that way we could save some coin, but during the fall and winter due to the cold weather, doing that was harder. We always tried to avoid big cities, especially during this time of the year, because the prices for a room even in the dirtiest and oldest of inns inside the towns were outrageous. But this year our luck wasn't the best and we needed to work extra hard to make money; and the best place to do it was always in the big places like the Palace City, for example. That is why we had to stay in a horrible hut located in the middle of the woods, that an old, grumpy man rented us for an accessible price.
"We have to get some more Pasmont mushrooms, I need them to make a remedy for allergies," I say the moment we get inside the hut. "The baker's wife told me that her son is allergic to yeast and it is becoming increasingly serious, which is certainly ironic." I am inspecting the new place while speaking. "I will go and get them after dinner." I finish as I leave my travel bag on a dusty bed.
"Don't worry about it. I can do it." Kalen offers. "I can even go and see the old Witch of the mountain. We could use a little more Wormwood and those Oni claws that seemed to be scarce lately." he looks exhausted but we both know we can't rest as much as we would like. The winter is getting closer and with it, our chances to get side jobs are lower thanks to the cold and the snow.
I evaluate the possibility of rejecting his help. I am capable of harvesting the mushrooms myself; besides, visiting the village witch can cost us our reputation, but it is necessary if we want to have enough resources to make brews during the winter and survive through it. I just nod my head letting a short, defeated sigh out.
After dinner, I stay in the hut preparing some brews while Kalen goes out in search of the ingredients we need. We have our bags unpacked in one corner of the room. The only things out of place are the tools I use to make the brews and a couple of plates and cutlery we used for dinner. A small dagger my brother gave me two years ago and the old rusty sword that belonged to my mother's father is resting next to the bed.
We are not experts with weapons, however, a couple of years ago we met a sword master in a small village. She was willing to teach us everything she knew in exchange for our work on her farm. She also gave us a place to stay and warm meals. That, perhaps, was the only time when our stay in the same place was longer than a few weeks, and maybe it would have been longer if the master hadn't been killed.
We had spent a long time alone before being so close to another human being that when the master died it was like a reminder of our cruel life. From that moment on, we never spent so much time with another person again. We had learned our lesson. Or so we thought.
It is already dark outside and I don't know how much time had passed since my brother left. I am starting to worry and my mind is starting to make up scenarios I don't even want to think about.
Maybe something happened to him in the forest. Maybe the old witch did something to him. Maybe the villagers found out about his visit to the witch and went after him and now they are coming for me.
I can feel I am about to have a panic attack when someone knocks on the door, startling me. I am standing a few steps away from it, my hands are shaking, and for a second my eyes travel to the dagger resting on the nightstand. I feel my back starting to soak with my sweat. They knock again, more insistently this time. Then I hear a voice.
"Enia, open the door."
It's Kalen. My pulse starts to slow down, the air I have been holding all this time comes out of my lungs. I almost want to smile, but I don't. I am mad. Really mad.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I ask furiously as I open the door. "You leave for hours and you come back knocking like you are..."
My sentence is cut off as I meet my brother's hazel eyes. He looks out of breath; his chestnut brown hair sticking to the sides of his sweaty and red face; in one hand he holds his satchel with a thigh grip, while with his other arm he struggles to carry a stranger. An unconscious stranger. There is blood all over his clothes and it is dripping over to Kalen's. What is the meaning of this?
"Come on, don't stand there watching," he says having trouble walking in. "Help me."
I rush to the stranger's right side, then Kalen and I guide his inert body inside the old hut.
The stranger is young, he can't be so much older than us. In his right hand, in a firm grip, he holds a strange, curved-tipped stick with a yellow stone at the end that shines brightly; his blond hair is dull with dirt. His face is also stained with dirt and blood and his clothes are ripped and filthy. It seems like someone tried to butcher him and almost succeeded. Then the horror comes back to me.
"Where did you find him?" I ask my brother, starting to feel nauseous. Maybe that guy was kicked out of the village, maybe he committed a crime and as a punishment, the villagers did this to him. Maybe he was a criminal and now he was here, in the hut, with us. What if someone saw us bringing him in? What if they come after us? I have to swallow down the panic I start feeling before asking: "How did you find him?!"
"I found him in the forest, on my way here,'' he explains while I examine the stranger a little more closely. "I was heading back here when I heard this guttural noise as if a wounded animal was roaming around. When I followed the noise, I realized it wasn't an animal. He was sitting down on the floor with his back laying in the trunk of a tree, when I came closer, he started muttering some weird stuff and then fainted. I thought it was better to bring him here so he could recover."
I listen to my brother's story while trying to make sense of what he is saying.
"So, let me see if I understand.'' I start, looking away from the stranger to my brother, saying my words carefully, as if I am talking to a child. ''You find a complete stranger in the middle of the woods, and the first thing you decide to do is to bring him here, where he could hurt us?'' I am not even bothering to hide my disbelief. ''You brought him here even knowing he can die? What are we going to do if that happens?"
If someone finds a dead stranger right where we are, we will be in trouble. Worse than that, we will be dead with him.
"We both know you can take care of yourself.'' He says shaking his hand as if my worries meant nothing. ''Also, we are two and he's badly wounded, I don't think he would even have enough energy to attack us." Kalen walks away from the guy. "And he would've died out there anyway. I just wanted to help."
I stay silent. I don't know what to say or what to think. I look at the stranger trying to decide what is the best to do. Staring at him I have a sudden feeling as if I am starting to remember something; a fuzzy memory stored deep in my brain, like a blurred image. It is like an annoying little noise that can't be silenced. And then, just as it came, the feeling is gone. I blink a couple of times feeling disoriented.
"I think he needs a bath and some of your brews." Kalen is next to the stranger again, putting him back on his feet. He looks at me as if he expects me to help him.
"You take care of the bath;'' I say standing up, turning around. ''I'll take care of the wounds."
"Are you being serious?'' he starts, complaining. ''You leave the dirty work to me!"
"It was your idea to bring him here," I say, giving him an accusing look. "Go and bathe him."
With a sigh, he walks to the bathroom. A few minutes later the young man's dirty clothes fly out of the tiny room. I search through my brother's clothes hoping to find something that would fit him. The stranger is a couple of inches shorter than Kalen, probably just a little bit taller than me, but giving his state I don't think he would mind wearing something one size bigger.
It is about half an hour later when my brother comes back with a cleaned and unconscious young man. Now, he is laying on the only bed there is. The cane he carries is resting by his side on the wall.
With his face now clean, I can see more clearly the wounds that are not very deep. However, in his torso, there is a deep wound. It is probably six inches long, blood has stopped coming out of it and a clot is starting to form over it. It is still red with a yellowish tone around it, which indicates it is starting to get infected.
I touch his face. It is hot and there is sweat all over it. He has a fever. He is definitely hurt but looks better than I initially thought. I exchange a look with my brother, wondering if it is the right thing to do; he looks back at me and nods.
I take an ointment to disinfect the wound, even though I am not sure if it will work with a wound like that. I open it a little; a slight moan comes out from the stranger's lips. I spread as much ointment as I can inside the wound; the moment it touches his skin the moans turn into screams.
"Hold him tight!" I order Kalen while I keep spreading the ointment. He is still writhing around, screaming in pain. I finish healing the wound and move away immediately.
It is as if someone has blown him off. His body falls heavy on the mattress. I wait for a few seconds making sure he is still breathing. I see his chest moving up and down slowly.
I walk back to him, ready to take his temperature, but my hand stops in the middle of the air. He is awake. His hand tightens on my wrist as his bright green eyes look at me without really focusing. His grip is starting to hurt as he whispers something. A name.
"Alanna."
His grip weakens and I immediately move my hand away. His gaze continues holding mine. I am not sure what he is really seeing while looking at me. Maybe he thinks I am Alanna, whoever she is. The only thing I know is that I have to use that moment to make him drink the brew I made for him to help drop his temperature.
"Here," I whisper while approaching him cautiously. "Come on, take this."
I bring the glass to his mouth while he keeps looking at me. His mouth is closed. I have to move closer taking his head carefully, lifting it a little while placing the cup on his lips forcing him to swallow the liquid. Once done, I walk away again. His eyes never leaving mine.
I have again that weird image in my head as if I am trying to remember him even though I have never met him before. It is as if he can see inside me. And then he looks away, and it is as if a heavyweight is being lifted away from me.
His wild gaze stares at the ceiling for a few more seconds before closing his eyes again. His chest rises and falls gently. He falls asleep again. I let out a long sigh as I drop on the chair next to my brother.
In my mind, the image of my mother, laying down on her bed, comes back. I couldn't do anything for her. I couldn't help her. Maybe Kalen is right, and we have to help this stranger. We can't let him die.
"It seems like he hasn't had it easy," I say after a few seconds. Looking up, I realize that Kalen knows what I was thinking about. "What do you think happened to him?"
We both look at the stranger. He is still writhing in pain and whispering things, hallucinating, due to the fever. Unconsciously I find myself hoping for him to live. He is young and maybe Alanna needed him.
"I don't know.'' Kalen answers after a while. ''What I am certain about is that finding him still alive was a miracle." Kalen gets up. He seems more tired than ever as if everything we have gone through the last few years is finally falling on his shoulders right now. "Go to sleep, I will make sure he is alright."
"What? Of course not." I oppose immediately. He needs to rest probably more than I do. "I can watch him. You need to rest. You're not made of rubber Kalen; you shouldn't push yourself harder than you already are."
He holds my gaze for a long moment. He wants me to change my mind, but he knows I am not going to do it. He sighs defeated, rubbing his eyes with resignation.
"Well, I'll go to sleep, but in a few hours, you have to wake me up so you can sleep too, okay?" He looks at me seriously; I nod. "Enia, I'm serious, I want you to wake me up."
"I know,'' I mutter. ''I said I will."
With one last nod, he walks away, leaving me alone with the stranger who keeps whispering things in his dreams. I wait until I am sure Kalen has fallen asleep before walking closer to the stranger again.
His soft features are attractive but only highlight how young he is. His pale skin looks spotless, aside from a couple of fresh bruises and cuts. His light-colored hair is covered in sweat making it stick to his face, almost reaching his eyebrows. On his right ear, a single earing hangs, it is a shiny green stone, matching the color of his eyes. The muscles in the rest of his body are contracted as if he is fighting in his dreams and I can't help but keep wondering what happened to him.
"Who are you?" I whisper while looking at him. It is not until that moment that I notice something that I hadn't seen before.
There, in his right wrist, on the lower part near the thumb, he has a mark. A scar shaped like a shield with a diamond inside it and an arrow pointing north in the center. It has been made with a branding iron, like the ones used to mark cattle. My heart stops for a second at the realization.
He has been marked. And that can only mean two things: he is noble, which is unlikely because, why would a member of the royalty be walking around in the woods? Alone? Right at the end of the celebrations for the Air Prince and Princess. Especially in his condition. Or he is a member of the royal guard or the army, which was most likely, and didn't really make anything better.
My head feels dizzy with the thought. Kalen had brought a royal guard with him. A member of the Diamond guard was half dead, which means that there is someone out there who wants him that way and we helped him. We had taken him in and saved his life, and now whoever is after him will be after us.
I turn my attention back to the stranger. He is muttering something. His face is contracted in pain as his hands squeeze the dusty sheets under him. I get closer to him trying to understand what he is saying.
"Breogan." He mumbles. ''Murderer…''
The word murderer takes me a little off guard. He was definitely involved in something bad, something I didn't want me or my brother in the middle of. He needs to recover and get out of our lives as soon as possible.
Time goes by very slowly. I spend my time working on the brews I will have to deliver the next day. The stranger is still unconscious. In between dreams he often mentions Alanna, and Breogan the murderer, and Estenna, a name that sounds vaguely familiar but not completely. And I almost believe he even mentions Queen Morgana, the lady of the waves. His dilutions are such that I believe he has gone crazy. I feel sorry for him, and us since we are trapped looking after him and probably in danger.
The moment Kalen wakes up to take my place I feel relieved. I can't keep listening to the strange things he keeps saying, and that only makes me think of horrible scenarios that could happen to us. Getting away from him it's a great pleasure.
That night I dream that I am being chased by a horrible man, Breogan the murderer while trying to save my mother.